Cadillac DTS

Comments

That's the pitch that OnStar gives you. I guess it is like insurance. I'll probably upgrade it on the Cadillac because we only use it on trips and it would be useful if the car got stolen or I was in a crash. I won't renew my '06 Impala OnStar though next March. That car is only used in town. My back goes out if I try and drive it longer than about 5 hours anywhere. The Cadillac I can drive for days and actually stand up straight when I get out after a day on the road! Hopefully I'll have a program Sebring Convertible by next spring for local town driving.

I would suggest getting an extended warranty if you plan to drive any number of miles on the car. I had one for seven years or 100,000 miles and am now getting a pro rated refunded of a little over 72% of the premium. You seem to have a good working relationship with your dealership so you might first get a quote from them and if satisfied purchase. You might also shop around and see what a non dealership warranty would cost you. A major transmission or engine problem could easily cost you over $2000 to repair so unless you don't mind that kind of surprise strongly consider an extended warranty and choose carefully.

I have had only one claim on my 98 Deville, a faulty alternator and it was repaired without charge at a non Cadillac repair shop. I never got a bill as the third party warranty company paid without question. I will share their name as soon as I get my pro rated refund on my 2004 Deville, the field office misplaced the papers and I was told I should receive the chrck shortly. I have waited for close to two months and am a little less than thrilled at their handling of my pro rated refund request. In the meantime I suggest that you investigate several companies and be sure that they offer a pro rated refund if you don't keep the car for the full period of the warranty.

I was at the filling station today, a fellow came over and asked if I knew that my center brake light had several bulbs that were not working. Sure enough there are three bulbs that are not lighting up when brakes are applied. I wasted no time and called the dealership to be told that only the dealer service department could change the bulbs as the the entire light cluster needed replacement. I wondered if there were other owners of the DTS that had this issue with their cars. In the good old days a burned out bulb was something that you could easily replace yourself. I am suspecting the (new) car was sold to me that way and that no one took the time to bring it to my attention til now, have owned this car since early May of this year. Is there is a simpler way to deal with this? I would appreciate knowing as the trip to the dealership is over 130 miles round trip. This will be my third trip in less than three months. All DTS owner input on this issue will be appreciated. Owners manual states that light bulbs need to be changed by dealer.

Hi Ianzz,Thanks very much for your reply, so far as I know you are correct in all respects in this issue. I have called the dealership and the part has been ordered. You are also correct that it is a warranty item. I am suspecting that the car was sold to me that way (new). It is the fourth 130+ mile trip to the dealership in just a little over two months. It takes most of a day in that when I get there I have to waitto have the work done. I am suspecting that one of the reasons that people are turning to the Japanese builders is initial build quality, don't think the service departments are any better than GM, Ford or Chrysler. This is my third Cadillac and I like the DTS very much but hope this will be the last glitch for a while. Will share the results and outcome when the work is done.

There is a fix for the KNOCKING sound. Cadillac has a TSB out on this. They replaced my EVAP Canister Part Number 15941577 under warranty. Too early to tell if the replacement corrected the problem - will have to wait till the weather cools off to test.

After reading the other posts on this condition I had pretty much resolved my self to accept it, as it was so common and there did not appear to be a fix. I had my car (2006 DTS Performance) in for an oil change and while waiting I mentioned the KNOCKING sound to the service writer. He knew immediately what the problem was and he told me of the TSB.

bremertong,I can understand you being annoyed or frustrated after making several trips back to the dealer, but this is a small problem IMO.Hardly worth a special 130 mile trip to the dealer, plus gas and your personal time.

I would do it at the next oil change or service need (before your warranty expires).

I can tell from your posts you are a perfectionist though! Just my opinion.

Yes, your reply makes sense. I have ordered the part throughthe dealership and will see when they get back to me on it.Have also put a record of the defect with Cadillac via a case number. If this car had been bought even slightly usedrather than new I would not be so disappointed. I was surprised at how little interest the Cadillac Representative showed in the discussion of initial build quality. You are also correct that I am a bit of a perfectionist which is not a healthy trait. My warranty will not expire until early 2011 so I have plenty of time to get it repaired. I have appreciated your posts and like your viewpoint on these issues.

True, with On-Star turn by turn you do not have to type your destination. That is the only advantage. Just before my free subscription expired I called for directions to a very well known destination just to test the system. At the same time I set up my built-in system for the same destination

I purposely passed the destination. On Star asked if I wanted new directions by reconnecting to an advisor. This would mean waiting for a down load of new directions.

Meanwhile the built-in system had already re-calculated and was redirecting me to my destination. Also, you can see an actual map to clarify where you are with the built-in system.

I also had to replace my high-rise brake light due to stress cracks. By your post I am guessing that either you have the 2007 DTS with 5 year warranty or if you have a 2006 that you purchased an extended warranty. Be careful here and read which ever you have. If it&#146;s the 5 year than it is a power train warranty after the first 3 years and MAY not cover brake lights. If it&#146;s an extended warranty (GMPP or 3rd party) read the fine print. Just make sure you get it replaced before the 3 years are up.

Is there a Caddy dealer closer that you can go to? You don&#146;t have to take it where you purchased it for repair work. Some items can even be repaired at a Chev dealer etc.

I purchased a 2006 DTS, new, left over inventory. Cadillac records confirmed this, I have a 4 year 50,000 new car warranty also confirmed by Cadillac,ending in early 2011. Am suspecting that the car was delivered new with the defect in the center on trunk lid brake light, there are no visible cracks or stress marks on the red plastic housing just about three bulbs that don't light when brake pedal is pushed. Dealer tells me that entire cluster must be replacedrather than individual bulbs. Many thanks for sharing information about your experience with this light cluster.

With a Cadillac I'd buy an extended warranty that would cover you for 100k miles -a GM Protection Plan. Cadillac, unlike Chevrolet. Buick etc. supports its warranty customers. Where you would get an argument from Chevrolet on things like wind noise you get no argument whatsoever from Cadillac. The various computers and all the electronic stuff on Cadillacs are very expensive to repair or replace. I wouldn't dream of buying a Cadillac without an extended warranty. That's why I buy "Certified" used Cadillacs from GM dealers - not from private owners.

I had a little time and the desire to do a little driving so having been advised that the new center brake light had arrived, went to the dealership and had it installed. The outer (red part that you see) and inner lights are in one piece, the replacement took about a half hour. When I asked if it was likely that the car was delivered with this defect the answer was yes it was likely. Having had severalglitches with this new car I must go back to the issue of initial build quality. I think the American builders are offering good cars at competitive prices but are loosing out to the imports on the basis of initial build quality.Am hoping that this will be my last malfunction with this car for a while given the fact that I have already had several previous ones in my brief period of ownership.

We rented an '07 DTS last weekend to take on a five-hour trip to visit my wife's 98-year old grandfather. Amazing guy! Anyway, we figured we'd get him in the car for a ride if we left our minivan at home (too hard to climb up into). I hadn't driven a Caddy in years, but we all loved this DTS...solid as a vault, quiet, great power, nice looking I think, roomy especially in back seat...my ten-year old even said she'd give up the DVD in our minivan if we bought a Caddy like this one! I was disappointed only in 1) plastic power-window switches inside, instead of chrome, 2) no more trumpet horns like I remember, 3) no more power trunklid pulldown like I remember, and 4) a slightly askew "GM" badge on the left front fender. So small, but so important on a top-line car! I actually saw a DTS about a year ago, with that GM emblem actually installed UPSIDE DOWN on the car! Inexcusable!

Anyway, overall, I think it was a wonderful car to spend time in. Also, if only Enterprise wasn't too cheap to pay for the satellite radio fee since the car came standard with XM radio! I expected satellite radio in renting a Cadillac, and didn't get it with Enterprise.

I would think that the parts supplier would have checked the center brake light to be sure that it was working before shipping. When the parts are put on the car, they are not checked, so a defective part can be installed. It may have failed after a short time of use too. Even with a few missing LEDs, the center brake light is still effective. The worst thing is that a few missing LED's look bad. Assuming that there are no defects that result in a short life, LED's last for a long time.

I think that your dealership would have found the defective battery sooner if you had explained more clearly that your starting problems were due to a weak battery. Calling it a "stalling" problem was incorrect.

Don't all Cadillacs have a Bumper to Bumper 5 year 50,000 mile warranty or is it 4/50 -can't remember. I only buy Certified ones with the 6 year 100,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty. I knew that all GM cars have a 100k power train warranty but is there a difference between the '06 and '07 DTS warranty-wise?

Yes I think so in that my 2006 DTS came with a 4 year 50,000mile new car warranty. Believe the 100,000 drivetrain warranty started with the 2007 DTS. The brake light was repaired under the warranty. I generally drive about 14,000 miles a year splitting my miles between my Lincoln Town Car and my DTS. I generally hold my cars an average of three years so the DTS would never reach 50,000 miles even if I kept it the full four years,it currenty has a little under 2,500 miles on it.

Very interesting post. I just bought a new DTS so the first year of Onstar is free. I rarely use anyway and am wondering whether to start paying the monthly fee when my free subscription expires. Main reason I have is for emergencies, as you probably know the system summons help if the air bags deploy. With new technology the price should in fact go down but hasn't. They are currently asking me to take a customer satisfaction survey and wonder if people are beginning to cancel their service for various reasons.

Does anyone know when they are going to change the body of the DTS? I know that the 2006-7-8 is supposed to be light years better than the 2000-2005 but whatever GM says it looks like the same body to me and the front grille looks better and more proportional on the older models. I'll keep my 2003 until I see something that looks like a new and different body and if they downsize it I'll get a Town Car.

I've never used it since I bought the car in January 2004 and keep paying for it but I think I'll dump it this winter when I have to pay the $15 for Digital PLUS a year in advance. I drove for 40 years before "On Star" and never missed it. The price will never go down and they keep on marketing it with scare tactics. Since I only use the Deville for trips I MAY go ahead with it but will certainly drop the On Star in my '06 Impala which is only used in town.

It is a very individual decision and can understand your position in that I feel very much the same way. I carry a cell phone in my Town Car and feel it is for the most part sufficient. If I were to do long distance travel I would probably use the Cadillac because of the onstar system. Technology is getting lower in cost and it may be that Onstar will drop the price in that they may be able to pick up many more subscribers if the monthly fee is lowered.

Now that I have had my 2006 DTS for close to three months I can say that I like the car better than my 2004 Deville. It has a much firmer suspension and the power delivery seems much more abundant and responsive than did the 04 Deville. On the negative side the 2006 DTS gets about 10% lower fueleconomy than the 04 Deville. The 2008 DTS has no major changes from the 2006 and 07. I suspect that the next major change will come around 2010. I would also suspect that Cadillac will at some point in the not to distant future come out with an adaption of a Northstar hybrid. While I much preferred the comfort and ride of my 2005 Town Car to my 2004 Deville I can now say that the two cars are about even in overall desirability for my tastes and preferences.

I am not sure that I would say that the 2006 DTS was that much improved over the 2000-2005 models, but there were improvements. I think that the next generation deVille (DTS...whatever) will be a rear wheel drive and will be a completely different car. They may merge the current STS and DTS into the same basic car, but that is not clear at this point. I think that the RWD DTS will be on a different platform than the sigma, so it will probably be about the size that it is now. It will be a few more years before it goes into production.

Thanks - The warranty for the '03 doesn't run out till October of 2008 and I only have 56,000 miles on it -I just use it for out of town trips - so I have some time to make a decision. I will most likely sell it privately sometime next year when it still has a warranty remaining and will look for a 2006 or 2007 Performance since the ride is supposed to be better than the Luxury models. I don't want a stiff ride though so I'll drive one first and compare both of them.

It would probably be easier to find a luxury model but I love a performance car myself and would have bought one if available and at the right price. The suspension on my 06 DTS is much more firm than on my 04 Deville and my 05 Town Car so you might give the luxury models a try and see if your satisfied. The key as I sense you already know is patience and of course enjoying the search.